EDF Group has appointed Irish company OpenHydro Group Ltd to build the first underwater tidal turbines at Paimpol-Bréhat (Côtes d’Armor) as part of its pilot project to build a tidal turbine farm to generate electricity from tidal energy.

The OpenHydro partnership concerns the installation of four to 10 tidal turbines with a total capacity of between 2 MW and 4 MW. These will be connected to the electricity grid from 2011 onwards. The technology used for the tidal turbines does not require any underwater work: fully submerged and easy to move, the turbines can be raised for maintenance operations.

The test unit at Paimpol-Bréhat will enable the technology to be tested in real-life conditions and allow its impact on the marine environment to be assessed in detail during various studies. The Paimpol-Bréhat region, which has some of the most powerful tidal currents in France, could in future accommodate other test technologies piloted by EDF.

This project illustrates EDF Group’s commitment to developing marine energy, as well as its ambition to acquire expertise and develop this industry by 2020, notably alongside IFREMER, the French research institute for the exploitation of the sea.

For EDF’s CEO Pierre Gadonneix, “EDF, which is the cleanest energy supplier in Europe thanks to its nuclear and hydro power, has made the development of renewables one of its strategic priorities. The current initiatives under way place EDF and France among the world leaders in marine energy. These represent a safe and renewable source of electricity which should in future help satisfy the new energy needs of the public and meet international commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”